Foot-long coiffs and überwinklepickers, and music spanning traditional Russian melodies and classic rock anthems - the combination of the Alexandrov Red Army Chorus and the Leningrad Cowboys together in concert in Helsinki in 1993's Total Balalaika Show is a heady spectacle.

Much joy is to be found in VG Cats. Such as here, wherein the intrepid Starfox discovers bonus items. Or, the perils of itchy clothing..

Oh, now this is the nicest weissbier I've tasted in years.. Göller Steinhauer Weisse. Quite unlike the usual examples, this is a much more mellow, almost creamy result.

I'd thought Cube was a particularly imaginative piece of work (albeit one I doubt I can watch again - a severe film indeed), when I happened upon The Cube, by one Jim Henson, in 1969.

For the truckers: are you permitted to give rides to hitch-hikers? Do you? Seems like another way of adding variety to a long haul, and probably not such a bad way of seeing the country from something other than a Greyhound seat. (Though I'd go by train rather than bus, save for the dreadful condition of the US passenger rail network, even now lacking any sensible SF-LA connection. Currently, you have two Amtrak choices: the Coast Starlighter, which runs once a day and takes about the same time as a 101 ride, or the "conventional" route, involving rail from the Bay to Stockton, down to Bakersfield, then a few hours on the bus down to LA and environs. Still, if you get the chance, I can certainly recommend the coastal route - south of Monterey, it goes through some wonderful landscapes, often unseen by car, including one stretch through Vandenberg AFB land. Grab a seat in the observation car, and watch the a particularly attractive part of the world go by)

Is it just me, or does the slogan "He's feeling his Cheerios" (1950-53, General Mills) not read quite the same way as it may have then?